Magu in the eye of storm

The former Chairman of the dreaded anti-corruption agency, EFCC, is in for a rough time as the table have turned against him from the hunter to the hunted


Most Nigerians found it difficult to believe the report when it first broke on Monday, July 7 that the Acting Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, Ibrahim Magu was arrested and detained in Abuja on that fateful day. Words had filtered that the anti-corruption czar who was brought to oversee the nation’s principal anti-graft agency in controversial circumstances five years ago had many questions to answer bordering on corruption. It was gathered that Magu had to be detained and even interrogated because of the magnitude of the case as well as to stop him from undermining investigation. Facts were beginning to emerge that the Acting Chairman of the EFCC was detained at the Police Headquarters ostensibly to stop him from tampering with documents meant for further investigation. To underscore the fact that the matter involving Magu was a serious one, the Presidency reacted and said that nobody was above the law, including Magu. It was an acknowledgement by the seat of government that it was aware of what was going on. It later came to public knowledge that Magu was being probed by the Presidential Panel headed by Ayo Salami, former President of the Court of Appeal. He was under the former President of Court of Appeal’s scrutiny until he gained his freedom on the evening of Wednesday, July 15.

The nation would have been spared of Magu leadership of EFCC five years ago, if the damning report on him by SSS in 2016, over his involvement in alleged corruption which was why the Senate refused to confirm him as substantive Chairman of the EFCC, had not been ignored by the Executive. Magu’s current travails began when Attorney General and Minister of Justice Abubakar Malami wrote a 21-point petition against the EFCC leader, and asked President Muhammadu Buhari to sack him over allegations of corruption: Discrepancies in the reconciliation records of the EFCC on recovered funds were alarming. Apart from this, there was accusation of leaking investigative reports to the media before going to court; sale of seized assets to cronies, associates and friends; shortfall of N35 billion in his declaration of recovered funds; insubordination to the AGF; not providing enough evidences for the extradition of Diezani Alison-Madueke; and ignoring court order to unfreeze a N7 billion judgment in favour of a suspect.

However after 10 days of his detention and interrogation, he was rereleased from detention, with great prospect of the former EFCC czar likely heading for prison. While his travail lasted, one of the main cases leveled against Magu was that he failed to account for 332 recovered properties within Nigeria and overseas. He was accused of allegedly failing to give a proper account of missing 332 out of the 836 recovered real estate property in March 2018. A report by the Presidential Committee on Audit of Recovered Assets (PCARA) made available in the course of the investigation confirmed the development, indicating that the unaccounted property was worth billions of naira. The report also noted massive wastage and deterioration of physical assets (including landed property, cars and vessels recovered by the EFCC due to poor management. It also noted with concern the failure to preserve and realise the economic value of the recovered assets, noting that some of the assets were recovered over 15 years ago and left fallow.

“A disturbing example is the two vessels that allegedly sunk at NNS Beecroft Naval BASE, Lagos and NNS Pathfinder Naval Base in Port Harcourt without trace under the watch of the acting Chairman of EFCC. “The vessels named MT GOOD SUCCESS, MV PSV DERBY and MV THAMES were allowed to sink in spite of several warnings from the Navy on the need to evacuate the petroleum products in the vessels.

“The total value of the assets lost due to the negligence runs into millions of US dollars “The (suspended) acting Chairman is yet to provide a report on what happened to these vessels,” the report said. Reports have it that Magu was expected to provide answers to the conflicting figures. The PCARA report also noted that the few consultants hired by EFCC were not managing a substantial number of the recovered assets and that the EFCC has no capacity to manage the entire assets on its own. The committee, therefore, alerted the nation on the economic and environmental implications of this negligent of duty by the Commission. It equally observed that EFCC made conflicting submissions or returns to it in respect of the non-cash assets which substantially affected the committee’s assignment. The report read in part: “For instance, EFCC stated 836 as the number of Recovered Real Estate in the Original Returns it made to the President on 07/04/2017.

“However, in its 1st Returns to PCARA on 13/12/2017, EFCC short-changed the system and gave the figure of 339 thereby failing to account for 497 property. “It is interesting to note that when the Acting Chairman was further queried on this lapse, he made further contradictory 2nd return of 504 on 09/03/2018 thereby bridging the gap to 332 property.’’ The committee identified lack of internal control mechanisms/ systems within EFCC and lack of adequate returns by EFCC Departments and Zonal Offices as reasons for these discrepancies and inconsistencies by the commission.

The suspended EFCC boss was also alleged to have neglected and refused to comply with the regulations on the Management of Recovered Assets, 2019 as he embarked on disposing of some of the property without regard to extant law. “These Regulations was issued in line with international best practices and to ensure that all the anti-corruption agencies report all their recovered assets in a database provided by the Federal Government.

“It is important to note that the (suspended) Acting Chairman in apparent disregard of the regulation is disposing of these properties without regard to extant laws, and Regulations and without reference to the Office of the Attorney General of the Federation and in effect, there is no way to have an audit of the property. “This is also a clear sign that there is a deliberate attempt to hide the exact figures of recoveries, which is an indication of fraudulent intent.

“These actions of the (suspended) Ag. Chairman in refusing the Regulation is a clear case of refusal to follow lawful instructions and directives contrary to the provisions of the Act that establish the EFCC.” A separate report on the matter, addressed to the president, further noted. These were not all. Other reports have it that Magu and some top officials of EFCC were allegedly using these recovered assets to corruptly enrich themselves.

The report also listed the number of the affected properties suspected to have been illegally acquired as well as the bank accounts of those individuals serving as fronts for Magu and the affected EFCC officials. “Most of the recovered assets are allegedly sold without anyone knowing and without proper records and without recourse to the Federal Ministry of Works and Housing that has the mandate to undertake evaluation of such property.

“Some of the assets have been taken over by EFCC officials while some are sold at give-away prices to friends and cronies of the Acting Chairman. “It is also on record that the (suspended) acting chairman is maintaining different accounts, including using proxies who return the benefit of the sold assets to him. “These funds are then used to procure property and lands in the names of some of his proxies,’’ the report further stated. According to the presidency, “There is no better indication that the fight is real and active than the will to investigate allegations in an open and transparent manner against those who have been charged to be custodians of this very system,” the president said through his spokesperson, Garba Shehu.

Citing the report of the Presidential Committee on Audit of Recovered Assets inaugurated by President Muhammadu Buhari in 2017, the state-owned news agency, NAN, said there was a revelation how interests on N550 billion recovered by the EFCC in the period under review was allegedly re-looted. There have also been inconsistencies in Magu’s accounts and the panel’s report that covered the period of May 29, 2015, to Nov. 22, 2018, also confirmed the concerns of the public about contradictory recovery figures emanating from Magu. “It is quite disturbing that conflicting figures are being circulated in the public space by EFCC as the amount of recovered funds,” it quoted the report as saying.

“For Foreign currency recoveries, EFCC reported a total naira equivalent of N46,038,882,509.87, while the naira equivalent of the foreign currency lodgments were N37,533,764,195.66, representing a shortfall of N8,505,118,314.21. “These inconsistencies cast a serious doubt on the accuracy of figures submitted by the EFCC. It is the committee’s view that the EFCC cannot be said to have fully accounted for cash recoveries made by it. “While EFCC reported total Naira recoveries of N504,154,184,744.04, the actual bank lodgments were N543,511,792,863.47. These discrepancies mean that EFCC’s actual lodgment exceeded its reported recoveries by N39, 357,608,119.43. “It must be pointed out that the discrepancy of more than thirty nine billion naira does not include interest accrued in this account since it was opened.

“It therefore cast serious doubt on the credibility of the figures and means that substantial amount of money has not been accurately accounted for. “Failure to report on the interest on actual lodgments clearly establishes that interest element of over N550 billion has been re-looted relating to the period under review.

“This is an apparent case of manipulation of data in a very brazen and unprofessional manner and this has greatly eroded the public confidence in the anti-corruption efforts,’’ the report stated in part. Reports from the panel had also how the investigative reports on EFCC’s activities by the Nigeria Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) exposed acts of corruption and money laundering against some EFCC officials, including Magu.

“The NFIU reports established that the Acting Chairman has been using different sources to siphon money from the EFCC, and in some cases collecting bribes from suspects. The report said a particular Bureau de Change linked to the Acting Chairman based in Kaduna has more than 158 accounts and has been receiving huge sums of funds. It also said N28 million was paid to a senior lawyer who is a close associate of the Acting Chairman. After 10 days in custody, the suspended acting chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ibrahim Magu, was released from detention.

Magu was in a police facility in Abuja from where he had been taken before the probe committee every morning. His lawyer, Tosin Ojoamo, had written the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Mohammed Adamu, demanding his bail. But the IGP, in a response said the panel was the one holding him. Giving an indication in what will happen in EFCC in the days to come, President Muhammadu Buhari reportedly suspended over 10 senior officials of the Agency. The anti-graft agency’s executive secretary, Olanipekun Olukoyede, was among those axed for “various alleged criminal and corrupt infractions.”

The Ekiti indigene, who was at a time chief of staff to the suspended acting chairman of the commission, Magu, was appointed in November 2018 to replace Emmanuel Aremo, whose five-year tenure expired in July of same year. A Presidency source said they were unseated to allow for an “unhindered investigation into the activities of the EFCC under the administration of the suspended acting chairman, Ibrahim Magu.” The Police Force Criminal Investigation Department, had earlier reportedly, seized two official bulletproof vehicles belonging to Magu. While one was recovered in Abuja, the other was reportedly fetched from Maiduguri, Borno State. Both were initially taken to the Force Headquarters in Abuja, before eventually finding their way to the commission’s head office in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). It was also gathered that detectives stormed the new EFCC building located along Airport Road within the city to seal off Magu’s office located on the 10th floor of the magnificent structure amid barricading of workers. The President had also replaced Magu with the organisation’s Head of Operations, Mohammed Umar. Umar who is EFCC’s Director of Operations was asked to take charge and oversee the operations and activities of the anti-corruption agency pending the conclusion of the ongoing investigation on the allegations against Ibrahim Magu and further directives in that regards.

In all, the Magu case is expected to open Pandora box into more cases of corruption in Nigeria. The nation is waiting. Meanwhile the suspended EFCC acting Chairman has written for the Justice Ayo Salami-led panel investigating him to demand for copies of the AGF’s petition and others that might have been filed by other individuals, Magu on regaining his freedom from detention also called the panel’s attention to what he termed: “serial falsehood publications in the media in respect of matters which never featured in the proceedings.”